Cleaning out the Inbox

For the final time in 2010, we dump the inbox out and start anew for 2011.

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas and that the New Year eve/day will be a good one for all even with the prospect of gas prices heading northward and ruining one of my two planned baseball trips for next season (That's right-two IF I am lucky enough to afford it with possible projected 3.50 and up gas.)

For those of you that are wondering ( and the one that actually cares-LOL) how my loosely promised "getting back into shape" is going-I don't know, but I do know this much-I am hitting the stationary bike for 24 miles a day (if not more) and have been doing it every day, although there are the occasional exceptions with time constraints.
The setting that I use burns 84 calories a mile, so the 24 miles puts me over 2,000 a day burned.
2,000 is the suggested amount of calories daily for an adult male and I have been generally burning them each day.
I plan on weighing in on Jan 1st for a reference number (No, you cannot have the number)and see how we did from the last weigh-in in August.
Next up to add to the list-a a planned once or twice-a-week trip to the asphalt for pickup basketball when it is warm.

I watched Maryland win in the Military Bowl yesterday, which I even thought about attending.
I think Ralph Friedgen got a raw deal from the school, but I can understand when the circumstances are looked at in their entirety.
When James Franklin started taking assistants to Vanderbilt, there are few people that are going to move their families to College Park for a one-year job.
It could have been handled better, but I see the logic.
Maryland needs to hire Mike Leach and turn the attendance issues around with an exciting style of play.
Considering the level of play in the ACC, Leach's innovative offense and the fact that Maryland isn't starting from scratch talent wise-this would be a home run hire for the Terrapins.
Don't forget the added bonus of being the heel on ESPN as anyone that hires Leach will become the bad guy.
That can be quite fun at times...
For more Mike Leach, check this link for how Leach spent his "fall" vacation and more on a really interesting guy...

You have heard about Turducken ( a chicken stuffed inside a duck inside a turkey), but the AA Akron Aeros have gone one better for the baseball fan.
The Aeros have added a "Three Dog Night" (What an awful name though, I instantly think of the PUTRID band by that name) to their menu.
The TDN features a hot dog inside a bratwurst inside a kielbasa, then topped with Sauerkraut and mustard.
Hopefully, the mustard will be one of the two terrific NE Ohio mustards, Stadium or Bertman's.
The sandwich will cost seven bucks and yes, Akron has a good chance to be a stop this season and maybe the TDN.
If Akron makes the cut though, I might be too full for one because this takes precedence.

I commented a few days about the pathetic article on ESPN's Scott Burnside on the Devils, but I was short and mild compared to John Fischer at In Lou We Trust.
John's post rips Burnside's "points" to shreds and destroys his clearly inaccurate post.
If you have the slightest interest in hockey, it is funny as well as devastating to the Burnside article...

Alex Marvez of the Scripps Howard media group has an interesting article on former Olympic weightlifter and pro wrestler Ken Patera's career.
Patera discusses wrestling, why he didn't attempt a 1972 Olympic rematch with Vasili Alexiev, and what he is doing today...

Big Don sends us this article in which former Hagerstown Suns catcher Derek Norris answers ten questions.
Norris was one of the nicer Suns in his year here (2009) and is the top-catching prospect in the Washington organization...

Finally, the Pirates claimed lefthanded hurler Aaron Thompson off waivers from Washington.
Thompson was acquired by the Nationals from Florida in 2009 and spent most of 2010 with AA Harrisburg. Thompson was also a member of the Greensboro Grasshoppers 2006 rotation made up of all first-round draft picks.

Pittsburgh also signed veteran Garrett Atkins to a minor league deal and swapped pitcher Ryan Kelly to Oakland for Corey Wimberly.
The blazing-fast Wimberly has a chance to stick as the utility infielder/pinch-runner and could battle Josh Rodriguez for that slot on the roster...